


Small Hands

by Keatongrey



Category: Orphan Black (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-24
Updated: 2019-07-14
Packaged: 2019-08-28 15:23:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 21,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16725954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keatongrey/pseuds/Keatongrey
Summary: Cosima never made it home from the island. For three years Delphine and her sisters thought she was dead. What happens when she turns up on their doorstep.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi fandom. This is my first ever fic so please be gentle. This is fairly canon with one twist. Cosima never made it home from the island. I don't know how many chapter this will be but I have a lot written so far and will update regularly. Any comments are greatly appreciate! I hope you enjoy. Rates M for later chapters.

Three years is a long time, it feels even longer when you don't have much to occupy your idle hands.

94,608,000 seconds.

Cosima has had more than enough time to calculate exactly how many days she had been in hidden away. Once she sat down and worked out how many hours it had been since she had seen her family. After that, it was easy to estimate the minutes and then the seconds.

Her wait was over now. She wondered how much had changed since she had been gone, many of the seconds had been spent thinking about that.

She was sat in the khaki green seat of a military transport plane headed for Canada. This was where she was told they would be. Her people. She wondered if they would be ready for her appearance. She wondered how they would react, considering they all thought she was dead. Mostly she wondered about Delphine.

Marion had told her two weeks ago that Delphine had stayed close to Cosima's sisters. She lives not even ten minutes away from Alison and Helena. When Cosima had heard that news she broke down. She had kept her promise to love all of the Leda sisters.

For three years she had been kept in the dark. The day Marion had informed Cosima of Siobhan's death she tried to escape. They found her in the woods, not more than an hour later. They sedated her and kept her in a basement for two days until she had calmed down. After that Cosima was deemed a flight risk and not privy to any more information. But that didn't stop her asking.

Every week when supplies were dropped at the door of her isolated cabin she would furiously bang on the windows and doors and ask the unknown person on the other side question that always went unanswered. Twice a week a young man came to visit her. His purpose was to make sure that Cosima never got too isolated. She had started to show signs of depression and this was something that worried Marion.

He was an intelligent man named Sam and he would try to engage her in conversations about physics or genetics, a subject he knew a lot about evidently. For the first 6 months, Sam was met with the same response.

"Where is Delphine? Is she alive? Does she know where I am? Are my sisters okay?"

She would repeat these questions, growing hysterical sometimes until one day Sam admitted he didn't know who any of these people where and would never be able to get her the answers she needed.

After that day she stopped asking Sam. Every now and then she would even talk back to him when he picked a particularly interesting subject. In all honesty, she felt sorry for him. He most likely had no idea who Cosima was or why he had been given the task of meeting with her twice a week. He became her weird semblance of normalcy. Sometimes she would close her eyes and pretend he was Scott. That helped her when she felt particularly alone.

Marion sat down in the seat next to her and pulled out a file which she promptly handed to Cosima.

"Here are your personal documents. Passport, bank cards, a phone, health insurance. It's all in there. Everything you will need." She said while reaching over to pull out a smaller piece of paper from the file.

"This is the telephone number of a very reputable therapist. We haven't given you nearly enough time to adjust back to the outside world. You will be traumatised but it is better than being dead."

Marion speaks so matter-of-factly that Cosima wonders how many times she has had this conversation before. The thought crosses her mind that maybe she wasn't the only Leda sister that had been forced into hiding. Before she can ask, Marion speaks again.

"You already have the addresses you requested, I hope you have not lost them." She says if addressing a small child. Cosima turns her head towards Marion before reaching her hand into her coat pocket and retrieving the list.

"Very good" Marion continues. "There will be a car waiting for you, it will take you wherever you ask." Marion pauses, as if unsure of how to say next. Deciding on her words she doesn't miss another beat before she says

"We land in 20 minutes. Good luck."

She rises from her seat and heads back to the front of the plane. Just like that she's gone. Cosima wonders if she will ever see her again. She hopes not.

The last remaining moments of the flight pass quickly. Once she lands and is cleared to move, she grabs the small brown duffel bag she was given before she boarded that contains some clothes and toiletries before making her way through the plane.

The weather is grey and the clouds hang heavy in the sky as she looks around at the first signs of Autumn in Canada. It's beautiful.

As promised, there was a car waiting for her. A small, middle-aged man with greying hair holds a white sign with her name on it. He greets her happily and takes her bag before opening the door of the black Mercedes for her. She enters and waits for him. When he joins her inside, he asks her where she wants to go.

She doesn't think about it. She pulls out a piece of crumpled paper from her jacket pocket and her eyes immediately go to the third address on the list. She reads the address out to the driver.

Delphine's address.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cosima arrives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to give you two chapters today as I’ll be travelling for the next few days so might not be able to update again until Tuesday. Enjoy!

The driver informed Cosima that they were about an hour away from her Destination and offered some pleasant small talk as they began their journey.  
After a while he sensed that she did not want to talk and so fell silent, leaving her with her thoughts.

She wondered what Delphine’s house looked like. She wondered if she would even be home but most of all she wondered if anyone else lived there.  
She knew it was irrational to expect Delphine to never move on. After all, for the last three years, she had thought she was dead.

Still, she hoped more than anything that they could still hold some form of a future together. The thought of coming back to the brilliant French doctor was what had kept her going most of all. The thought of holding her again and the all-encompassing safety that Delphine offered whenever she was in her presence had been at the forefront of her mind, from the moment she realised it was going to be a long time before she saw her again, if ever.

Cosima had begged Marion to let Delphine and her sisters know she was alive but had been told time and time again that it was too dangerous. Not only for Cosima but for everyone else as well.  
She knew she was right, she knew more than anyone that if Sarah and Delphine knew she was alive then they would have gone to the end of the earth to get to her.

She reaches for the folder Marion had given her and starts to look through it. She looks through the paperwork and finally finds the phone. She turns it on and waits for the screen to light up. To her surprise, the phone had already been set up with an account in her name.  
The first thing she does is looks through the address book. She finds the phone numbers for all of the important people from her former life have been added. Hovering over the numbers for Sarah, Alison, Felix, Scott and Delphine. She thinks about calling one of them. She decides that it is probably a bit too much to put on them in a phone conversation. She imagines Scott sitting slack-jawed in his lab coat at hearing her voice and smiles to herself but decides against giving him the shock of his life right now.

She sits back against the plush leather seat and imagines what Delphine looks like now. She wonders where they all live and what the kids are like. She thinks about Charlotte and wonders if she is living with one of her sisters. 

Before long the city turns in to the suburbs, the daylight is fading and Cosima wonders if she should wait until tomorrow but that thought quickly leaves her when the driver says they are ten minutes away. She can’t wait any longer.

The eventually pull in to a small cul-de-sac that is surrounded but two-story houses with small gardens in the front. The car drives round in a semi-circle before pulling to a stop in front of a modest but very homely looking house. 

“Are you sure this is it?” Cosima asks the driver as she starts to feel so nervous it borders on nausea.

“Yes, Miss. This is number 63. I will get your bag” he answers opening his door before also opening hers.

She steps out on to the sidewalk briefly looking at the manicured lawn and wonders if she needs to pay the driver or if it has already been taken care of. He pulls her bag out of the trunk and hands it to her before she can ask and says goodbye.

She thanks him and says goodbye. She takes a deep breath and makes her way up the footpath towards the house. She has taken no more than five steps when the front door opens, spilling light on to the front porch.  
It takes her by surprise and she barely has time to let her eyesight adjust before she realises who is stood in the door frame.

Delphine looks exactly the same as the last time she saw her on the island. Her hair is still a light shade of dirty blonde and wavy to her shoulders. She’s wearing grey jeans and a white t-shirt and her feet are bare. Cosima is stood taking in every detail of her love as Delphine stands there, hand still on the doorknob. Her eyebrows are knitted together in confusion and her mouth is slightly open.

“Surprise,” Cosima says because she’s suddenly aware she hasn’t said anything.

She had thought about this moment constantly for the last three years. She had played out every possible scenario over and over again in her head and in exactly none of those imaginings did she ever see herself saying “Surprise.”

She doesn’t have long to mentally berate herself as in the next three seconds Delphine falls, almost in slow motion, to her knees. Her head falls into her open hands and she sits there rocking slowly as Cosima’s feet taken over and she heads towards her.

Cosima climbs the steps to the porch quickly and kneels down next to Delphine. She isn’t sure if she should touch her, 'Is it too much?' She asks herself but her hands work quicker than her brain and her arms fall around Delphine’s shoulders.  
Cosima places her head on Delphine’s crown.

“I’m so sorry.” She whispers because it’s all she can think to say.

Delphine lifts her head and looks at her, she looks at her like she needs to see every millimetre of her face to believe it’s really her. Her eyes finally land on Cosima’s as a single tear escapes Cosima’s eye. Delphine gives a small whimper before turning her body to grab Cosima. She holds the small clone so tight that Cosima can feel as the sobs begin to wrack her body, matching her own.  
They stay like this for a long time, before their breathing begins to calm.  
Delphine turns her head to bury into Cosima’s now longer dreds.  
“I don’t understand,” Delphine says barely above a whisper.

“I will explain everything. It’s a long story.” Cosima answers pulling their bodies apart slight to cup Delphine’s face in her hands. The thumb of her right-hand brushes briefly over Delphine’s cheekbone and she smiles a small smile at her, trying to pour all of her love into the tiny gesture.

“You are a sight for sore eyes,” Cosima says quietly as her voice begins to crack.

Delphine lets out a half laugh half sob and the remark. They stay kneeling on the porch for another few minutes staring at each other and then Delphine takes Cosima’s hand in her own.

“Come,” she says as she raises to her feet and pulls Cosima with her.

She leads her into the house and closes the door behind her.

“I need to know everything,” Delphine says as she stands half leaning on the now closed door as if for support.

“Of course,” Cosima replies nodding once. She can’t think how she will even begin to tell Delphine everything that has happened but she knows she needs to hear it. She needs to know the whole truth. Everything else they will figure out later.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An early update for you. Enjoy!

They still hadn’t moved from the entrance hall of the warm house. Cosima, for her part, was too busy staring openly at Delphine.   
Delphine however looked as though she might go into shock at any moment. Her face was pale and her brow still furrowed in worry.

Cosima broke the stalemate and stepped forward. She reached out her hand to the blonde woman in front of her.  
“Let’s go sit down.” She said with a small smile. She surprised herself with the action. Her social skills had slipped somewhat in the last year of her near-total isolation. It had been a long time since she had even touched another human and lack of contact quickly becomes a habit.

Delphine took her hand and pushed away from the closed door.  
“Let’s go to the living room,” Delphine said offering a small smile in return.

She led Cosima in to the living room. It was small but very cosy. It was light and the cream sofa in the centre looked like the most comfortable piece of furniture she had ever seen.  
Her eyes scanned the room, taking in every detail. Behind the sofa was a large painted bookshelf holding hundreds of books and photos in frames. To her astonishment she found her Persian rug on the floor in the centre of the room. She tried not to read to much into this and to get her hopes too high but as She turned to sit down on the sofa she caught a glimpse of one of the photos on the bookshelf. It was of Cosima. She couldn’t even remember when the photo had been taken but it was unmistakably her. She felt the lump in her throat again.

Cosima turned her attention back to Delphine who was staring at her. She saw her lip quiver and every fibre of her wanted to envelope her in her arms and make whatever pain she felt go away. Cosima stopped herself, she knew they needed to get through this first.

She reached over and pulled one of Delphine’s hands into her own lap.

“First off I should tell you, it’s been a while since I really talked to someone. Some of my social skills need a little readjusting so maybe you can wait until I’ve finished to ask any questions?” Cosima asked hoping she didn’t sound too harsh.

Delphine nodded “of course, mon amour”

And there it was. The words she had heard in her head every night as she tried to fall asleep. Two small words that meant everything to her.

Cosima cleared her throat, she needed to not cry. At least for now. She gathered herself and went on.

“I don’t know a lot of what you were told after I was gone. All I know is there was a story about me drowning” Cosima started and Delphine nodded, never once breaking eye contact.

“Well I didn’t, obviously. When Charlotte and I left the island on the boat we were met off the coast by a bigger vessel. At first we thought it was Topside. Either way we didn’t have any choice but to go with them.”  
Cosima continued hoping she was making sense. This was the most she has spoken for at least a year.

“They were friends of Siobhan. They said they would take us the rest of the way. They gave us tea when we were on board and then the next thing I knew I wasn’t on a boat any more.”

Cosima fights back tears again remembering waking up in the facility. Delphine notices and gently strokes the back of her hand.

“They drugged the tea. They took me to a facility in Helsinki, it was a half prison half hospital. Marion Bowles is in charge of it. It turned out that Marion was alive and Neolution went much deeper than they first thought.”

Cosima pauses again.

“I’m sorry, could I get a glass of water?” She asked Delphine. She can feel her anxiety rising as she talks and she doesn’t want to break down.

Delphine reaches over and strokes her shoulder and gives a small smile. “Of course” she answers before she disappears into the kitchen. She returns after a few moments and places the cup in Cosima’s hand who immediately takes a big sip before steadying herself and continuing.

“Coady, found out about the cure and she told some pretty dangerous people. Marion said it wasn’t safe for me until every loose end had been tied up. They didn’t tell me a lot but they told me the knowledge I had on the Leda clones would be invaluable to these loose ends so they hid me.” She takes another sip of water, blinks slowly and holds her eyes closed for a beat to try and steady her breathing.

“I spent three months in their facility in rehabilitation. My body still needed to repair itself and recuperate. When my tests continued to come back clear they moved me to a cabin. That’s where I stayed, until yesterday. Apparently the loose ends have finally been tied.”

Delphine nods and looks to the floor. Cosima can see she is trying to process all of this information.

“Did anyone know you were alive?” Delphine asks still looking at the floor.

“Just Mrs. S” Cosima answers. “I thought with her knowing she would tell you all eventually. I know she tried to do everything to find out what happened to you when you were on the island. I don’t think she could have let you all think I was gone for good” Cosima says feeling the same deep sadness when she thinks of Siobhan.

“But she died” Delphine answers. “Oh dieu, Cosima do you know that? I’m sorry if you didn’t” she says looking up when realises what she has so casually dropped on Cosima.

“I do. I was told when it happened. It was the last information I was given about any of you.” Cosima clarifies, trying to alleviate some of Delphine’s worry.

Delphine’s hand goes to her forehead and she massages her temples and closes her eyes. She finally looks to cosima and reaches for her. She places her arms around and and buries her face in to the crook of her neck.

“I’m so sorry, Cosima. I’m so sorry this happened to you.” She pauses to inhale the scent of her hair, it’s different but still so Cosima.

“But mostly I am just so happy.” Delphine carries on as she feels the tears once again burning her closed eyes.

“You are alive, Cosima. I have mourned you for so long but here you are. You are real.” Delphine starts to cry again which brings Cosima’s own tears.  
Cosima gently strokes Delphine’s back as they hold each other.

“There’s still a lot we need to talk about,” Cosima says as she turns her head to place a long soft kiss on to Delphine’s cheek.

Delphine lifts her head as she feels cosima’s lips leave her cheek. She turns her own head towards Cosima and tentatively moves forward. When Cosima doesn’t back away she inches forward until their lips meet.  
They kiss. It isn’t hungry or passionate but there is so much love poured into the action that Cosima could swear she feels her heart beat for the first time in years.  
Their lips detach and they rest their foreheads together as they had so many times before.

“We will, mon amour,” Delphine whispers as tears cover both of their cheeks.

“We will,”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 4 as promised, I hope you enjoy. Chapter 5 will be up on Thursday.

They sat on the sofa for what felt like years and seconds all at the same time. They sat holding each other and listening to each other breathing.  
There was so much Cosima wanted to say and to ask Delphine but she couldn’t bring herself to pull away. Night had set in its entirety and somewhere in the back of Cosima’s head, she wondered where she was going to sleep tonight.

“You will need to see your sisters,” Delphine said sitting up straight to take in Cosima’s face. She stroked the baby hairs at Cosima’s hairline. An action that had been so familiar for them. Delphine remembers the first time she did this and her heart aches a little at the memory. She never thought she would be able to perform such simple acts again, but her Cosima was in front of her and she willed herself to believe this wasn’t a dream.

“I know,” Cosima answered as she closed her eyes at the touch.  
“I heard the live close by,” Cosima said still with her eyes closed.

“Oui, they do. Alison helped me find this house.” Delphine replied

“Why did you stay with them?” Cosima asked, “I thought you might go back to France.”

“I couldn’t bear to leave them, Cosima.” Delphine’s tone had changed. Her voice was now tinged with sadness.  
“They were the last piece of you I had left.” 

Cosima opened her eyes and looked at Delphine and extended her arm to cup her cheek

“I’m so sorry,” Cosima said in a low voice.  
“I’m so sorry for everything you’ve been through. I’m so sorry that I couldn’t get back to you” she said as her voice broke again.

Delphine looked surprised.  
“Cosima, don’t you dare think that I blame you,” Delphine spoke back in a much stronger voice. Cosima was pleased to see that she was just as brave as she’d always been. She knew there was so much emotion that Delphine was holding back. It had been the same when she was sick. Delphine was always the one to be strong. She saved her crying for the long night hours when she thought Cosima was sleeping. Cosima knew that was the way that Delphine coped and she had let her have her private grief.

“This was not your fault and we cannot forget that this is a good thing.” She said and her voice began to soften again.

“You are alive mon belle, you made your way home.” Delphine finished with a smile before reaching forward to kiss Cosima again.

Cosima found that she was already beginning to get used to being touched again. She was starting to crave more little affection.

“I have to ask you something, Delphine, and I want you to know that I won’t be mad at you whatever the answer is.” Cosima started, knowing she couldn’t delay this any longer.

“There is no one else,” Delphine answered before Cosima could utter another word. The small clone felt instant relief wash over her.

“I am still yours” she continued placing her hand on Cosima’s and interlocking their fingers” if you want me.” Delphine finished suddenly unsure of herself.

“That is never a question you need to ask.” Cosima smiled and brought their interlocked hands to her face placing a languishing kiss the back of Delphine’s.

They both felt hot tears pricking their eyes as the emotions started to get the better of them.

They sat in easy silence for a few beats before Cosima cleated her throat.

“I do need to see my sisters though. Could you take me?” Cosima asked.

“I will, of course, but It is getting late now, Cosima, the children will be getting ready for bed and it has been a very long trip for you. Maybe we should wait until the morning.” Delphine suggested.

“I can call Sarah and Alison for you, if you would like? It might lessen the shock before they see you.” Delphine offered. She didn’t want to smother Cosima but at the same time, she knew the emotional toll this must be taking on her. Now that Cosima is in front of her, all that Delphine wants to do is protect her.

“Do you think that would be better?” Cosima asks. She did feel exhausted and the thought of not having to re-tell her story multiple times was appealing to her. She knew her sister would have so many questions still she knew Delphine’s suggestion would at least help. She also wasn’t sure if just turning up on their doorsteps was the kindest way for them to know after seeing Delphine’s reaction.

“I think so, amour,” Delphine answered. “I will order dinner for us, we will sleep and I will take you to them in the morning. Although I will warn you, I’m not sure Sarah will be able to stay away when she knows.” Delphine said and smiled as she thought about their reaction. It would be a shock of course but she had never had a better shock in her life.

“Is it ok if I stay here tonight?” Cosima asks. She isn’t even sure if there are any hotels in this neighbourhood.

“Do you really think I would let you leave now?” Delphine replies with a short laugh  
“For the foreseeable future, I am where you are, Cosima.” 

Cosima lets Delphine’s words wash over her and the corners of her lips pull up into a loving grin. She leans forward to kiss her gently. Too happy to find words.

Delphine smiles into the kiss and breaks them apart still cupping Cosima’s face.

“I am going to order some food. And make some phone calls. Why don’t you take your things upstairs and freshen up? The bedroom is the last door on the right and the bathroom is the first on the left. You can take a bath if you would like.” She offers and kisses Cosima once more softly.

Cosima smiled to herself, this was always Delphine’s way. She was a woman of action and once she had a plan in place there was. I stopping her. She was also glad for a slight reprieve. Their reunion so far had been better than she could have imagined but she needed to process this all. She felt that Delphine must have picked up on this and was grateful, more than she could put into words.

“Okay, thank you,” Cosima said as she raises from the sofa.  
She grabs her bags and heads toward the stairs.

“I will be right here if you need me, Cosima,” Delphine calls after her.

Cosima feels lighter than she has in a long time as she climbs the stairs. This was all going so perfectly.

She drops her bags next to the bed. She assumes this is Delphine’s bedroom. It’s perfectly neat and tidy. No surprises there.

She decides to take up Delphine’s offer of a bath and heads to the bathroom.

She runs a bath and gets in and washes herself slowly in the warm and calming water, trying to wash away all of her stress from the last two weeks. All of the tension she had held since she knew she would be heading home. She knows it will take a long time before life goes back to normal, but this is a start. She lays back in the tub as steam fills the air of the bathroom. She thinks about everything else that will need to be done in the next few days and everything else she will need to discuss with Delphine.  
She hadn’t broached the subject of her parents yet, she knew they were alive and well as Marion had informed her. Cosima would need to plan a visit and find a way to tell them she was alive as gently as possible. She knew that her loved ones would be more than relieved to know that she was alive but it was the shock of finding out that she didn’t relish. She knew that they would be replaying the trauma of losing her in their heads again.

She doesn’t know how long she is in the bath, maybe half an hour she supposes. She feels the need to be near Delphine again and she decides to dry up and get dressed. Her clothing options are limited so she takes the liberty of borrowing some of Delphine’s. She looks through the wardrobe and finds her own oversized, maroon, Aztec print hooded sweatshirt. She slips it on and a pair of black leggings. As she finished getting dressed, she hears banging on the front door, muffled from this distance.

She hears the door open and an unmistakable voice says “where is she?”

Sarah had arrived


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is chapter five. I want to say a really big thank you for everyone who has read and commented so far!  
> The chapters will be getting progressively longer as we go on so updates might be an extra day or so between. Chapter six is already written so that will go up very soon and I’m really excited to see what you think of that one!  
> I hope you all enjoy this update!

“Sarah, you must calm down. She is upstairs taking a bath. She will be down shortly I’m sure” Delphine told Sarah as she tried to remain calm, hoping this might rub off on Sarah.

“That might not even be her. You know how many of us there are. It could just be another Leda with dreadlocks. You should have called me straight away” Sarah said, her voice coming out in an angry whisper.  
“Sarah I am fully aware of that but, Cosima had a small scar on her neck. She cut herself falling from a tree when she was six.” Delphine paused and waited to see if Sarah had grasped what she was trying to say. The Brit continued to look at her blankly, Delphine continued.  
“The scar is there Sarah. I saw it when she first arrived on my porch. I am 100% sure that she is Cosima.” Delphine finished.  
Sarah locked her fingers together behind her head and looked at the ceiling attempting to process all of this information.  
“Sarah, I know you’re anxious to see her and you have a lot of questions and there is of course a lot that she needs to know but we don’t know what she has been through. We need to go gently with Cosima for now.” Delphine said reaching over to pat Sarah’s should softly.  
“Please promise me you won’t drop any bombshells tonight.” Delphine said quietly and looked pointedly at Sarah. Before she could answer they heard a noise coming from above them.  
“Did I hear my name?” Cosima asked appearing at the top of the stairs.

Sarah’s head snapped back down and she looked toward the top of the stairs. Cosima and Sarah’s eyes locked and any doubts Sarah had had before were immediately gone. She knew this was Cosima.  
Cosima slowly made her way down the stairs, her smile growing with every step.  
“Hello, Sestra.” Cosima said beaming with big tears threatening to break loose from her eyes as she arrived in front of her sister.

Sarah was instantly in tears. She smiled as best she could but was so overwhelmed at seeing her sisters face after all of these years.  
“Oh, Cos,” was all Sarah could muster before she stepped forward and threw her arms around Cosima. Sarah hugged her tightly and placed her hand to the back of Cosima’s head as if frightened that she might disappear if they pulled apart.  
Delphine stood apart watching their reunion, she too was also in tears watching the sisters. She knew how much this must mean to both of them. She just hoped it wasn’t too much for Cosima to take in. After her comment about her trouble adjusting to social interaction, she found herself fretting that Cosima couldn’t handle too much in one day. To her relief she seemed to be coping excellently.

The sisters broke apart and stared at each other.  
“Look at your hair!” Was all Sarah could say laughing and crying at the same time as she stroked Cosima’s dreadlocks tenderly.  
“Yeah, it got a little longer.” Cosima chucked.  
Delphine interjected, “I told Sarah everything you explained to me earlier so if you don’t feel like going in to more details, we understand. Sarah just really wanted to see you.”  
Cosima looked to Delphine and smiled appreciatively. 

“Thank you.” She replied “but really, I feel good. I’m a little tired but I’d like to sit with you both for a while if you have time?” Cosima looked towards Sarah hopefully.  
“Yes mate. Of course.” Sarah said grinning back. “Let’s go through to the living room.” She warped her arm around Cosima’s shoulder and lead her to the living room.  
Delphine followed behind and offered to make them tea. When they both accepted, she made her way to the kitchen to give the sisters some time alone hoping Sarah had headed her warning about taking things slow.

After 10 minutes she returned with one full mug of English breakfast tea with milk and sugar for Sarah and one cup of camomile tea for Cosima. Sarah’s regular tea order she now knew well, she just hoped Cosima had the same taste as before. To her relief she did and Cosima hummed contently as she took her first sip.

“Did I miss anything?” Delphine asked and she sat down opposite the sister who had taken up the sofa.  
“We were just having a little catch-up.” Sarah answered sending the worry radiating from Delphine.  
“I was just telling Cosima about the kids, how Kira is doing and that Charlotte is living with Art and his family.” Sarah continued hoping this would calm the blonde.

“We need to talk about living arrangements though.” Sarah went on.  
“We have plenty of time to sort that Sarah, there’s no need to do this now,” Delphine answered curtly.  
“I get it, French Fry, but where is Cosima staying tonight?” Sarah asked. Cosima noticed that Delphine had no reaction to the nickname and assumed this must have become a regular thing and made a mental note to ask Delphine later 

“Oh, uh, we already talked about this Sarah.” Cosima cut in.  
“I’ll stay with Delphine for tonight at least and then tomorrow we will sort it out from there,” Cosima said looking towards Delphine for back up.  
Delphine nodded. “That’s right. Perhaps tomorrow after Cosima and I have spoken more we can meet with you and Alison. Cosima is welcome here indefinitely but it is her decision. I would of course rather she is with me but I will not put any pressure on her.” Delphine spoke softly and reached across space to the sofa and placed her hand on Cosima’s hand and squeezed reassuringly.  
Cosima smiles and wondered how she could have suddenly got this lucky.  
“Thank you.” Cosima replied through a thick throat and smiled appreciatively.  
Sarah stayed with them for dinner, explaining that Felix was at home with a sleeping Kira. They spoke about what Cosima had missed.  
Scott was now travelling Europe on an extended research trip. He had helped Delphine to cure the Leda sisters with Cosima’s cure and had been bitten hard by the travelling bug.  
Young Charlotte had played her part very well and managed to take the cure from the boat to Delphine. They had managed to make enough between her and Scott to track down and cure the rest of the Leda’s, those that hadn’t already succumbed to the illness that was a pre-disposition for the clones. 214 in total, Cosima beamed at their achievement.  
Felix was still dating Colin although they were, as always, on and off. Most of the time he lived with Sarah but was still known to disappear for weeks on end.  
Alison and Donnie had taken in Helena and her boys. The twins were now toddlers and surprisingly well adjusted. Sarah commented on how she was so sure they would turn out feral but had been pleasantly surprised at how nurturing Helena had turned out to be.  
Helena herself had thrived, she had settled in to the domestic life of raising her boys and was happy. Still a little eccentric but very much content.  
Cosima was so relieved to hear that they had all got a happy ever after. She had spent so many nights lying awake worrying that they were all ok. It turned out that they had all come together and made a family. It was more than she could have ever hoped for.

The conversation slowed down after they had finished eating and they settled into a comfortable silence.  
“I was very sorry to hear about Siobhan, Sarah,” Cosima said and broke the pleasant bubble they had been sitting in.  
She saw Sarah stiffen briefly as she took in her words.  
“Thank you, Cos. It was tough.” Sarah replied before pausing  
“She would be happy today though” She continued with a sad smile.  
“I tried to escape when Marion told me. I wanted to get to you and Felix.” Cosima replied replaying the conversation in her head  
“ I can’t imagine how terrible it must have been.” She said and found that she was getting lost in the memory of that day.  
“I couldn’t do it though, I tried but I didn’t get very far. After that, they said if I tried again, I would be put in a cell. I…I just couldn’t risk that. I’m…I’m so sorry.” Cosima admitted her throat burning and tears welling in her eyes.

It had haunted her for so long that she wasn’t able to get back to them. She knew that Sarah would have found a way and the fact that she wasn’t brave enough made her hate herself internally.  
Sarah placed her hand on Cosima’s shoulder and ducked her head to look meaningfully into Cosima’s downcast eyes.  
“Don’t you ever blame yourself for that. You were protecting yourself and that’s exactly what she would have wanted you to do.” Sarah spoke so assuredly that Cosima found herself believing her.  
“She would be so proud of you, Cos. You found your way back” Sarah continued as a fat tear ran down her cheek.  
Cosima nodded her head and they embraced. Before breaking apart and wiping their matching tears away. Delphine had watched them closely and her heart ached for both sisters but none more so than Cosima. She didn’t interject but simply allowed them to comfort each other.

After that they returned to more pleasant conversations until around 11.30 when,  
noticing Cosima’s tired eyes, Sarah decided it was time she went home. She pulled her sister into a tight embrace before promising to see her tomorrow.

Delphine offered to see Sarah out and they left Cosima on the sofa. Cosima heard their muffled talking in the entrance hall but couldn’t make out their words. A few minutes later she heard the front door and Delphine had returned.

“Shall we go to bed, Chérie?” Delphine said as she rounded the corner into the living room.  
“Yes please” Cosima answered smiling as she raised herself from the sofa.  
Delphine took her hand and turned off the light switch as they left the room. She led her upstairs and stopped before entering her bedroom.

“I did not ask before but if you need to sleep alone there is a spare room. I would not be offended.” She said offering a small smile and trying to convince herself that she wouldn’t be disappointed.  
“Is it ok if I sleep with you?” Cosima asked.  
“I still need to take things slow but I would really like to be held by you again.” Cosima continued looking up to meet Delphine’s eyes.  
“Nothing would make me happier,” Delphine said as a bright smile spread across her face.  
They changed and got into bed. The thick duvet was so cosy that Cosima started to remember the small joy of such simple things.

“Come here, mon amour” Delphine spoke huskily. Cosima has always loved how her voice sounded when she was laying down, her bedroom voice she had called it so many times before.  
Cosima shifted her body across the bed and laid her head on Delphine’s chest. And felt her arms wrap around her. She felt so completely calmed by the sound of Delphine’s breathing and the feeling of her heart beating beneath her.

She lifted her head to look at Delphine in the dim light of the bedroom with the only light source coming from the bedside lamp.

The leaned up and kissed her lips softly, closing her eyes into the kiss and feeling like she was home for the first time in so long. She pulled away and reach her hand up to run her thumb over Delphine’s full lips.  
“Good night, Delphine.” She said quietly.

“Sweet dreams, Cosima” Delphine answered. 

If Delphine had been worried about Cosima before it was nothing compared to how she felt after watching her emotional conversation with Sarah. She hated that Cosima blamed herself. She could see it in her every action and all she wanted to do was wipe that doubt away. For now, all she could do was be there for her and re-assure her love that she wasn’t going anywhere.  
After a while, they both settled down and let themselves drift off to sleep. Tomorrow would be another long day but right now they could concentrate on the feeling of holding each other again and for now, that was enough.


	6. Chapter 6

Cosima slept much better than she thought she would. She had worried that she would be restless or worse that she might have bad dreams but amazingly she had slept through the night.

She turned her head to the side and to her relief found Delphine still there.  
Delphine was already awake and staring sleepily through hooded eyelids at Cosima while lazily drawing haphazard shapes on Cosima’s shoulder with her finger.  
“Good morning,” Cosima mumbled smiling and fluttered her eyes a couple of times to try and wake up more fully.

“Yes, it is,” replied Delphine who sighed contently and smiled back in return.  
Cosima leaned her head closer until their noses touched and leaned in slowly to kiss Delphine on her waiting lips. She kissed her slowly until she pulled away slightly and kept their foreheads touch together.

“If I’m dreaming please don’t wake me,” Cosima whispered more to herself than to Delphine.  
Delphine chuckled hearing Cosima’s words.

“It is a very sweet dream, mon amour,” she replied stroking the side of Cosima’s face.

They laid for several more minutes in each others arms listening to the early morning birds singing outside the window. Delphine spoke and broke the quiet of the room.

“I will go and make us some coffee,” she said as she pulled back the cover and slipped out of bed before turning around leaning on bent arms on the bed to place another short kiss on Cosima’s lips  
“I’ll be right back,” Delphine said stood up again and her bare feet padded across the wooden floor towards the door. Cosima reclined in the bed and watched her leave with an adoring smile on her face.

She took the time to look around the bedroom while she waited for Delphine to return. Bathed in the morning light seeping in through the open curtains she took in the details she had missed the night before. On the bedside sat a photograph of Delphine holding a small chubby baby on her knee, both of them smiling in delight at the photograph’s taker. It must have been one of Helena’s babies she guessed once she has seen the baby’s familiar dark brown eyes that were much like her own.

Looking further around she noticed another photograph of herself on the walnut dresser directly opposite the bed. This photograph she knew.   
It was a photo Delphine had taken on her phone very early into their relationship. It was a black and white side profile of Cosima sat at a desk in the library. She was leaning on the table and looking thoughtfully at the book in front of her, with the eraser end of a pencil pressed to her lips.

Delphine had later explained she took the photo because it was the first time it had struck her how different she was to the other Leda’s and because of how beautiful Cosima was when she was thinking.  
Cosima felt butterflies in her stomach at the thought of Delphine having it on display. Then the realisation dawned on her. This photo was a memorial.  
Her stomach dropped as she thought of Delphine placing it on the dresser, her favourite picture of her dead love.

She tried to shake herself out of her melancholy and focus on the moment. She is here in Delphine’s bed, she reminds herself.  
She doesn’t have too long alone with her thoughts before Delphine returns holding a metal tray between her hands. She’s smiling as she places the tray on the bedside and climbs back into the bed. Delphine reaches for the tray and places it between them. The tray held a cafetière filled with black rich coffee, two cups and a plate with assorted pastries.

Cosima had missed these small luxuries in her absence and she painted a smile on her face to match Delphine’s 

“This looks amazing,” Cosima said as she reaches for a pastry.

“You need feeding up, Cheri, you have gotten very skinny,” Delphine said watching Cosima take a bite and reaching over to wipe a flake of pastry from her bottom lip.  
“Hmmm,” Cosima hummed after her first mouthful “the vegetarian options were pretty limited where I was,” she said after swallowing the buttery treat.

“Well luckily for you Alison has become very adept at vegan dishes. She texted me this morning actually asking if we would be free to join them for lunch. We will go there later if you would like?” Delphine said as she poured two cups of coffee for them.

“That would be great, I can't wait to see her, to see all of them” Cosima replies taking the cup Delphine was offering her.

“They feel the same. In addition to the text from Alison, I also had four missed calls from her.” Delphine said chuckling.

“You really integrated yourself into the clone club huh?” Cosima laughed briefly.

“I made you a promise, Cosima,” Delphine’s tone had changed again. It was easy for them to forget that they weren’t suddenly in some domestic bliss. They still needed to heal.

“In truth, they have been amazing. We comforted each other after we lost you. We are an odd family with a shared interest.” She said reaching for Cosima’s hand that was resting between them on top of the duvet.

They shared a silence as Cosima let her words sink in.

“I met your parents as well,” Delphine said quietly. Hoping this wouldn’t startle Cosima too much. Cosima looked up in surprise.

“They know everything. We didn’t think it was fair that they would lose you and not know the truth.” Delphine went on before pausing for Cosima’s reaction.

“How... how are they? How did they take it? Oh god, what a stupid question.” Cosima said shaking her head. She knew they would be devastated at her death but she was still very curious to know how the felt about the clone situation. It was something she herself had thought of telling them if she ever made it back.  
“They are okay, Cosima, they were very confused at first. They flew out for a memorial we held. They were obviously very upset, they still are.” Cosima noticed the present tense Delphine used.

“You still speak to them?” She asked looking up again at Delphine as tears began to cloud her vision once again.

“Yes, perhaps once a week. We bonded over you. They sent me a care package last week with some of your baby pictures.” She said and smiled sadly. Cosima was so touched at her words. She never would have believed that all of this was going on while she was hidden away. She didn’t think her love for the blonde in front of her could increase more than it already was but as she sat staring at her she felt like her heart had grown.

“We can take a trip to San Francisco soon,” Delphine said and reached over to tuck one of Cosima’s dreadlocks behind her ear. Cosima noticed that whenever Delphine spoke of making plans it always involved the both of them. She had wondered what it would be like when she came back if they would carry on where they had left off. She was so happy to see that this seemed to be the case. It was all she had wanted.

“I would love that.” She said smiling genuinely, previous emotions subsiding to be replaced by joy.

“So what else did I miss?” Cosima asked taking another bite of her pastry.

“Well after everything with Dyad and Neolution and losing you all I wanted to do was to do was never leave my apartment again but Scott and I still had work to do. When we had finished our travels curing the Leda’s it felt very good to be back with Sarah and Alison. Eventually Alison convinced me to buy this place so I sold my apartment and moved here.” Delphine explained taking another sip of her coffee

“I work part time at the university now Lecturing immunology. I enjoy it a lot and when I’m not doing that I mainly help your sisters with the children. Your sisters all have busy lives so I take the children for a couple of afternoons a week after school. Helena needed a little bit of help with the twins as well so I have been doing a lot of baby sitting” she finished smiling to herself.  
Cosima could tell that Delphine clearly found her life fulfilling and it made her so happy to know that she had been surrounded by love in her absence. Cosima smiled back at her, a broad smile that exposed her canine teeth, the smile that Delphine had missed so much.  
They finished their breakfast and Cosima decided to take a shower while Delphine tidied up, insisting that she didn’t need any help.

When she was finished and dried, she wrapped a towel around herself and made her way back to Delphine’s wardrobe. The blonde entered the room again and Cosima couldn’t help but notice how her eyes roamed her body.  There was a hungriness there but Delphine bit her lip and held herself back. Sensing that this might be too much too quickly for the clone.  
“Do you mind if I borrow some clothes? I don’t really have much with me?” Cosima asked clearing her throat to try to break the tension that was hanging in the air.

“Of course not, actually I have some of your clothes here. They’re in the left-hand cupboard.” Cosima was surprised when she opened the cupboard and found some of her favourite items. She picked out her maroon dress, black tights and a scarf. She remembered wearing this exact outfit once before and smiled to herself. She never thought she would see her clothes again.

What surprised her most was when she found a set of her cat-eye glasses on the top shelf. She picked them up and turned to Delphine.

“Some things I just couldn’t part with,” Delphine explained and folded her arms over her chest and she leaned on the door frame.

Cosima placed them on her face and it was a revelation. She had broken her other set within a year of her isolation and had been given a replacement by Marion however, they were not a style she would have ever chosen. They were simple square, dark blue framed glasses with much smaller lenses than she was used to.   
Since she had found out she was one of the multiple identical people it was the small things that made her feel unique. Her glasses were one of those small things.

With every passing hour she was feeling more like the Cosima she thought she had left behind. She dropped the clothes and all but ran to Delphine. She threw her arms around her neck and reach up to kiss her with far more passion than she had previously during their reunion.

Delphine barely had time to uncross her arms before Cosima was on her. She wrapped her own arms around Cosima’s now much smaller, towel-clad, hips and kissed her back, surprised at the sudden emotion in the smaller woman but oh so grateful for the gesture.

Before things could get too heated Cosima pulled away.

“Thank you,” She said simply and placed a hand on each side of Delphine’s face and she looked deeply into her eyes.

“I will remind Felix of this the next time he accuses me of being a hoarder,” Delphine replied back smiling as they both begin to laugh.  
An hour later they are both dressed for the day and decide to head out early to Alison’s.  
Picking up freshly baked bread from the local bakery on the way they then begin their way to the house. Delphine drives slowly and points out some of the local points of interest as they travel.  
Cosima looks out of the window of the car and takes in the sights. The sun is finally shining and she is thrilled to see a more familiar landscape.

Eventually, they pull up to Alison’s house and stop in front of the driveway.

“Are you ready for this, Cosima?” Delphine asks and reaches over to place her hand on Cosima’s thigh.

Cosima gathers herself and looks up at the house before returning her gaze to Delphine.

“As I’ll ever be,” she replies placing her own hand on Delphine’s and giving a gentle squeeze.

They unbuckle their seatbelts and make their way to the door. Before they can even knock the door is flung open and a woman with the exact same face as Cosima is stood there in front of them. The main difference between Cosima and this woman is the messy mop of blonde hair and a slightly wild look in her eyes.

Helena doesn’t say a word before she steps forward and wraps her arms around Cosima’s midriff so tightly and strongly that Cosima’s feet leave the ground.  
Completely taken by surprise all Cosima can do is pat the top of Helena’s head.

Helena eventually places her down gently and looks Cosima up and down intensely.

“Why are you so small?” Helena asks in a thick accent.  
“Oh...uh...” Cosima starts lost for words at Helena’s abrupt manner.

“The food was not very good where she was, Helena, you will need to feed her up” Delphine steps in and speaks softly at the other blonde woman.

Helena looks between Cosima to Delphine and then back to Cosima again before a smile starts to spread on her face.  
“Then you come. We eat.” She says simply before grabbing Cosima’s hand and pulling her into the house. Delphine follows behind laughing. Clearly, she is used to Helena. Cosima feels like she needs more practice.

They step into the entrance of the house. Cosima is pleased to see that it is nearly exactly the same.

She is dragged through the living room and into the kitchen where Alison is busy preparing lunch. Alison stops hearing the commotion behind her and turns to see Helena coming into the room, closely followed by Cosima.  
She drops the large wooden bowl in her hand loudly on to the counter and her jaw drops as she stands with her mouth hung slightly open.

“Oh goodness, I didn’t hear the door.” Is all she can say before she makes her way around the kitchen island in a frenzy and pulls Cosima in for a deep embrace. Alison holds Cosima like she is a lost treasure she never thought she would see again and to Alison, that is exactly what she is. Cosima feels Alison’s sobs through her shoulder and her own tears start to escape her eyes.  
They hold each other for a few minutes before they become aware of loud banging reverberating through the kitchen. They both look up to see Helena opening every kitchen cupboard and pulling out anything that could be considered food, before throwing it on the kitchen counter. Delphine is following behind her trying to pick up everything that is dropped carelessly behind on the floor.

“Helena, what on earth are you doing?” Alison asks as she sniffles and wipes away a tear.

“Sestra is small. She eats.” Helena replies not even bothering to look behind her as she grabs the biggest bag of rice Cosima has ever seen from a lower cupboard and dumps it on the island.  
Cosima and Alison watch her briefly before both bursting into laughter at the ridiculousness of the scene in front of them.

Cosima does indeed eat. She eats more than she can remember eating in a long time.  
Sarah, Kira and Felix join them not long after Cosima and Delphine had arrived.  
Felix tries to hold back tears as he embraces Cosima but it is of no use, within seconds they are both crying again. Kira for her part seems delighted but largely unphased at Cosima's sudden alive status. Cosima wonders if the now nearly teenager has seen so much in her short like that nothing could surprise her.

They talk for a long time about what Cosima had missed, Cosima, in turn, fills them in on what daily life was like for her. Donnie comes through with Helena’s twins when they have finished their nap and children all play in the garden.

Their reunions have all be much the same, shock at seeing her again and so many tears and outpourings of love at her safer return  
They stay talking for hours until the sun starts to set and they all decide that they would rather spend more time together and so they have dinner at Alison’s as well.

Cosima finds herself feeling a little tired so she takes herself into the den. Kira is sat on the rug in front of the sofa with one of the twins playing with large wooden blocks together. Cosima sits down and watches for a while before Delphine joins her to bring her a glass of wine.

“I thought you might need this, my love,” she says softly in her ear and hands her the glass. Cosima accepts the glass and smiles gratefully at Delphine.  
“I will be in the kitchen helping Alison clear up if you need me. I’ll let you have some quiet time.” She says brushing her lips against Cosima’s cheek.

“Thank you” Cosima replies turning her head to meet Delphine’s lips with her own and smiles warmly at her.

Delphine leaves and Cosima stays sitting for a while watching Kira play with Arthur. She had gone from near complete isolation to having her strange family back. After a while, she finished her wine and rose from the sofa to re-join them in the kitchen.  
She walked slowly as she looked at the photos lining the walls of the hallway. She hears voices speaking low from the kitchen. Picking up her feet again and continuing she hears the voices more clearly.

“You have to tell her, the longer you wait the worse it’s going to be.” Sarah’s voice is unmistakable even at a whisper.  
Cosima’s steps slow down again and a feeling of panic starts to work its way through her body.

“I know Sarah, but it’s not something I can drop on her as soon as she walks through the door. I’m still coming to terms with this as well!” She hears Delphine whisper back in a frustrated tone.  
“She’s only just got back, we’re still reconnecting.” Delphine pauses and then goes on again even quieter

“I will tell her tomorrow. She needs rest tonight and tomorrow we will sit down and talk” Delphine continues.  
“Good, because this level of stress is not good for you or the baby.” Alison’s voice joins in.

Her feet bring her the rest of the way and Cosima rounds the corned. She finds Alison and Delphine with their backs to her as the wash and dry plates at the sink and Sarah standing next to them holding a bottle of beer loosely between her fingers.

“What baby?” Cosima asks before her brain can catch up with her mouth.

All three turn towards her with matching expressions of shock and panic.  
Sarah’s hand goes to her forehead 

“Shite” is all Sarah can say.

Delphine is pale as she steps back from the sink, she drops the drying cloth on the kitchen counter and slowly walks towards Cosima. Stopping a few steps before her she places her hand on the kitchen island as if for support.

“My baby, Cosima.” Delphine’s says as tears begin to gather in the corner of her eyes.

“Actually, more accurately, our baby. I’m pregnant, Cosima.” Delphine continues as her tears now begin to break through.

Cosima knew where this conversation was going but she still couldn’t quite believe what she was hearing.

Cosima stares disbelievingly at Delphine. “How?” Is all she can think to ask.

“After Dyad fell, I managed to get access to some of your samples. Scott and I managed to turn a sample of your bone marrow into functioning and healthy sperm cells. It worked.” Delphine finished quietly still with tears running down her face

“She only found out a few days ago, Cos. She’s still trying to process this herself,” Sarah interjected but Cosima ignored her and continued to stare dumbfounded at Delphine.

Delphine took a tentative step forward. “Please understand, I thought you were dead, Cosima. I would have never dreamed of doing this without your approval if I’d known you were alive.” She said as she reached out and took hold of one of Cosima’s hands.

There was a heavy silence in the kitchen as Cosima tried to understand everything she had just heard.  
“I...I think I need some air” was all Cosima could reply.

“I’m going to take a walk.” She finished as she dropped Delphine’s hand and made her way quickly to the front door. She grabbed a coat, she didn’t know whose coat, but she threw it on and opened the door, making her way out into the chilly night air.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 7 is here. It might be a few days before the next update due to travelling and work but in the meantime I hope you enjoy this one!

The chilled night air hit Cosima’s face as soon as she stepped outside. She didn’t know where she was going, all she knew was that she needed to keep moving.

She didn’t know how to make sense of this information. For the longest time in her relationship they had battled about her biology and this news had brought up all those old feelings. They had struggled with Delphine’s need to make decisions without Cosima’s permission and the insecurities that Cosima carried knowing that her genetic makeup, everything that made her who she was, was someone else property.

She knew logically that this was different. Cosima was dead as far as Delphine knew so it wasn’t like she could have asked for her permission but still it was a lot to take in.

Cosima wasn’t even sure if she wanted children, she knew that she loved kids but babies terrified her. There was something about a baby’s complete vulnerability that rendered her totally dumb when she was around them. Every time she had held one in the past all she could think was that she might drop it.

She walked down the street and the houses soon turned to dark trees illuminated by the street lights on the outer edges. She stuffed her hands in her pockets to fend off some of the cold and tired to make a mental note of where she was walking so she could find her way back when the time came. She walked for half an hour in the cold night air. She walked passed a school and a small park, a grocery store and a cute little restaurant full of couples all dining in the warm.  
She walked by what she at first thought was another park and wondered if this was the most suburban place in all of Canada until she noticed the light stones protruding from the ground like mismatched teeth. It was a graveyard. She didn’t know why she walked in through the black iron gate but something pulled her towards the gravel pathway. She remembered a time when walking into a deserted graveyard at night would have scared her, not anymore. She felt calm as she started to make her way around the stones. Maybe being dead had made her braver.

She read the names and the ages of the deceased as she walked. Some young and some old, some couples and some alone. She read some of the tributes their loved ones had had engraved on to the stones. Then she saw it. Tucked away on outer edge of the population was a name that she knew only too well. She felt like the air had been knocked out of her lungs as she read the words.

Cosima Niehaus

03.09.1987 - 07.15.2017

“I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will”

She read the words slowly as she dropped to her knees and reached out to trace the engraving with her fingers. She couldn’t possibly count the amount of times she had read Jane Eyre. She used to quote passages to Delphine and see if she could guess where they came from. She must have picked these words.  
She sniffed as a single tear ran down her cheek. 

Looking down she saw fresh red roses in a vase. The details of the gravestone were so elegantly beautiful. It was cream with black lettering and on the top corners were the delicate engravings of two nautilus shells. She felt like the bottom had fallen out of her stomach. All she could do was crouch reading the words over and over as her breath fogged in front of her.

“There’s no one in there you know.” 

Cosima jumped and turned her head quickly to see Sarah standing behind her. She was wrapped up in a thick, black parka jacket. Her hands were stuffed into her jean pockets as she observed Cosima.

“I had wondered.” Cosima replies before turning her attention back to the stone.

“Yeah well it’s difficult to bury someone who was lost at sea.” Sarah says matter of factly. Cosima had missed her bluntness.

Cosima let our an amused burst of air from her nose.

“Thats comforting at least. I would have been worried about who’s body it was.” She said and raised herself back to a standing position. She took a step back and stood next to Sarah.

“We did bury a box with a bunch of your stuff in there. Mostly clothes and jewellery...I hope you didn’t want them back.” Sarah says looking to the side to gauge Cosima’s emotions.

Cosima laughed quietly. Sarah was always the one to break the tension with humour.

They stand staring silently at the stone for a moment.

“I’m sorry I left like that... god Delphine must think I’m such an asshole.” Cosima says shaking her head at herself.

“She’s upset, Cos, but she certainly doesn’t think that.” Sarah said and reached around to rub Cosima’s back reassuringly.

“We all know this is a lot for you. You’ve been through so much...we all have.” She continues.

“In 24 hours I’ve come back from the dead and become a parent.” Cosima says trying the word on for size, saying it doesn’t feel as alien as she thought it would.

“Yeah, you’ve had a busy day.” Sarah says and smiles cheekily before nudging Cosima’s shoulder with her own.

Cosima can’t help the small smile that appears on her own lips. After a moment she grows quiet again.

“All that keeps going through my head is everything I wasn’t here for.” Cosima admits quietly.

“When I was gone all I could think about was what I was missing and now I’m back all I can think about is what I’ve missed.” She says and feels the familiar lump beginning to rise up her throat.

“I think that’s probably normal,” Sarah replies after a moment.

“Whatever normal is in this situation anyway,” she pauses again as if weighing her next words carefully

“The thing you have to remember is that the past is gone, you don’t have any control over that. All that you can control is what happens next and you have to ask yourself, do you want to miss anything else?” Sarah continues turning her body slightly to face Cosima.

Here words seemed to shake Cosima out of her thoughts.

“God no, of course not. Me leaving wasn’t me opting out, I just needed a bit of space to process all of this.” Cosima clarified.

“I don’t blame her, Sarah. I know what it felt like when I thought I’d lost her. I would have done anything to have a part of her with me.” She admits her understanding of Delphine’s decision growing as she speaks.

“There’s just a part of me that wishes I was part of this decision.” She finishes and waits for Sarah’s reaction.

Sarah nods in understanding.

“I don’t know if this helps but she did ask all of us, the clone club, if we would be ok with this. She even asked your parents. We all thought it was great.” Sarah said with a small smile.

“It is pretty incredible.” Cosima confesses looking up to meet Sarah’s eyes with a matching smile.

“Can we go back? I need to talk to her, leaving like that was pretty shitty of me.” Cosima asked her heart breaking a little thinking of Delphine upset.

Sarah smiled and wrapped her arms around Cosima’s shoulder.

“I brought the car, let’s go get warmed up.” Sarah said as they made there way back down the gravel path.

“And, Cos, I want you to know that if you feel overwhelmed or you need somewhere to go and clear your head, I’m always here.”

“Thank you, I think I’ll take you up on that. Talking to you has helped.” Cosima replied.

They made their way out on to the street and in to Sarah’s waiting car. The car still had remnants of warmth inside and Cosima was thankful for that. The drive back was quick and they were parking in front of Alison’s house again in what felt like minutes.

They got out of the car and Sarah was immediately back at Cosima’s side as if she was afraid she might leave again. She wrapped her arm around Cosima’s shoulder and they walked together back to the house.

“Come on, Geek Monkey, lets go sort your life out.” She said and rubbed Cosima’s shoulder with the arm already wrapped around it.

When they entered the house it seemed a lot quieter. The kids were no longer present and Felix had departed with Kira.

They stepped in to the entrance hall and found Delphine sitting on the sofa in the den. Her back was to them and Cosima slowly approached. As she rounded the sofa she found Delphine sitting solemnly, her cheeks still bore the tell-tale signs of recent tears. Helena was laying curled up with her head in Delphine’s lap as Delphine absentmindedly played with the blonde clones frizzy hair.

“Hey,” Cosima said hoarsely and gave a small shy wave to get Delphine’s attention. Delphine had seemed to be a million miles away in thought before hearing Cosima’s voice.

“Cosima,” Delphine started but seemed to run out of words.

“Come on, meathead, lets give these two some privacy,” Sarah spoke extending her hand to Helena. 

Helena looked up at her sister and raised from the sofa patting Delphine gently on the knee as she went and stopping briefly at Cosima before placing both hands on either side of her face and reaching up to kiss her forehead. Cosima had to admit that the former assassin was now surprisingly endearing.

Sarah and Helena left the room and Cosima made her way to the opposite side of the sofa to sit down next to Delphine.  
Delphine was watching her intently without saying a word.

Cosima reached forward and took one of Delphine’s hands in her own, bringing it into her own lap.

“I’m so sorry about my reaction. It...it caught me by surprise.” She said looking at Delphine. Delphine’s eyes hadn’t left her own.

“I know it’s a shock, Cosima, I thought you might be angry or confused, I didn’t think you would leave. When you did the thought crossed my mind that you might not come back.” She admitted. Cosima sometimes forgot that she wasn’t the only one that had been traumatised by the last few years. Delphine’s words were a stark reminder of what her love must have been through.

“I’m not angry, babe,” Cosima spoke as she caressed Delphine’s hand lightly with her thumb.

“I’m a little shell shocked but I’m not mad at you. How could I be?” She continued.

“I’m worried that I’ve spent so long alone that I’m kinda broken,” Cosima confessed.

“I want to make this work though, I don’t want to be away from you for another second. I’m still fucking terrified that I would make a terrible parent but I don’t want to miss anything else.”

“We’re all scared, Cosima.” Delphine replies turning her hand palm up to interlock her fingers with Cosima’s.

“This is something that I had wanted for a long time, after Helena had the boys I couldn’t stop thinking about having a baby. I went for a routine Pap smear not long after and they told me that my fertile years were limited...Wanting a baby became a real ache in me but there was only one way I’d ever envisioned having one...with you.” Delphine said, emotion getting the better of her at the end

“I know...we never really had the chance to talk about it in the past,” Cosima replied pausing to look at Delphine’s and her own interlocked hands.

“We never had the time...we were always running from something,” Delphine supplied 

“But that’s over now, mon amour, this could be our life now.” She finished barely above a whisper. “We can finally make a life together, if that is still what you want.”

The sadness and hope in Delphine’s voice broke her heart. She knew she would never choose to be away from this woman. She would do her best to make this work, she would do her best to be a good mother when the time came and she would do her best to learn from mistakes that she was inevitably going to make.

“It is all I’ll ever want, Delphine...I’m not going anywhere.” She replied and cupped her chin with her free hand.

“Marion gave the number of a good therapist nearby. I’m going to call her tomorrow and get an appointment. I need to get a handle on myself, you know? Like...I need to learn how to be present.” Cosima said trying hard to articulate how she felt.

“I think that is a very good idea.” Delphine said reaching her own free hand up to place it over Cosima’s which was now resting comfortably on her cheek.

“We need to talk about longer term living arrangements too. I mean I don’t know how you feel about jumping into a whole domestic situation straight away.” Cosima said a little uncertainly, she could feel one of her trademark rambles coming on but Delphine gave her no chance to get lost in her own words

“I want you with me, Cosima.” Delphine jumped in with no hesitation.  
“I bought the house imaging what it would have been like with you in it.” She said meeting her eyes with a look of pure sincerity. Her doe eyes twinkled slightly in the low light of the room and Cosima couldn’t take her own eyes off her if she tried.

“I never thought I’d get to share my life with you again. Now you’re here I can’t imagine it being any other way.” Delphine spoke quietly 

Cosima felt a wave of emotion rush over her for the millionth time in the last 24 hours.  
She smiled through the tears that were gathering in her eyes.

“Ditto,” was all she could manage to reply.  
Delphine edged closer and opened her arms for Cosima to fall into her embrace. They wrapped their arms around each other. 

Delphine had always managed to find strength when she saw Cosima upset. She knew that Cosima was a strong woman but her instinct had always been to protect her, no matter the cost.

Delphine kissed Cosima’s temple and kept her lips there for a beat, closing her eyes tightly and inhaling her familiar scent. She felt her breathing slow eventually and knew she had calmed slightly.

She pulled back slightly to look into her dark eyes. Leaning forward she placed a long kiss onto the smaller woman’s lips, then one more on the tip of her nose before pulling back again.

“Let’s go home. I’ll even let you be the little spoon tonight,” Delphine said and smiled cheekily.

Cosima laughed at her words although she had to admit, that did sound perfect.

They said their goodbyes to Cosima’s three sisters and made their way out into the night.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So after a massive delay here is chapter 8! Sorry for the wait, life got in the way a little. I hope you enjoy.
> 
> Comments, as always, are very welcome!

Three days later Cosima sat in a plain white waiting room of a psychologist’s office waiting to be seen by Dr. Hill. She had made the appointment the day after finding out about Delphine’s pregnancy and was surprised that the doctor could see her so quickly but the way the receptions tone had changed after hearing her name made her believe that perhaps they were awaiting her call.

 

Life had been fairly normal in the days in-between. They were trying to carve out their own version of normality and while testing at times she was glad that Delphine was by her side. They had made a trip to a local mall and replenished Cosima’s depleted wardrobe and also, to her relief, a book store where Cosima bought several copies of her favourite books. Reading had always been a relief to her and she was glad to know when things started to get too much, she could hide herself away with one of her old favourites until her brain quietened down.

 

“Miss Niehaus?” Someone called in a strong British accent breaking her out of her thoughts. For a brief second, she expected to see Rachel when she turned around. Instead, there was a tall black-haired woman in her late forties looking expectantly at her from a partly opened door directly off from the waiting room.

 

“Uh...yeah...here,” Cosima responded raising her hand slightly as if she was part of roll call at School. She got up from her seat and walk toward the woman who offered her hand in greeting. 

 

“Doctor Hill. Please come through.” She said shaking Cosima’s hand and leading her through to her office. The room matched the waiting room perfectly, nearly entirely white in a very modern tone. Cosima was impressed that with this much white in one space it didn’t look more clinical.  
The doctor indicated to the sofa directly next to a large bright window and Cosima took a seat and started fidgeting with her hands nervously.  
Doctor Hill sat in a small chair to the side of Cosima and pulled up her notebook from the floor beside it.

 

“First of all, Cosima,” Doctor Hill started and then paused.

 

“May I call you, Cosima?” She asked after a moment.

 

“Oh yeah, that’s totally fine,” Cosima replies waving her hands nonchalantly.

 

“Good.” The Doctor continued and smiled genuinely.

 

“First of all, I want to assure you that as a medical professional anything you say in this room stays in this room,” she paused again to look at Cosima pointedly.

 

“I also want you to know that you are not the first-person Marion has referred to me. I want you to feel free to say whatever you need to say and know that I will not be shocked,” the Doctor finished sitting back slightly in her chair.

 

Cosima felt relief wash over her. For days she had been trying to figure out how she was going to speak to this woman honestly but at the same time not give away any ‘need-to-know’ information. Still, Cosima didn’t know where to start.

 

“Why don’t you tell me why you’re here.” The Doctor prompted when Cosima was yet to speak, and with these simple words, the floodgates opened.

 

“Ok...Well where to start... Around five years ago I found out that I was the product of an illegal cloning experiment. I say illegal but let’s not forget the moral implications here. There were 273 other women in the world with the exact same genetic makeup as me. I met with two of them one killed herself then another came along. We discovered that the people who made us were still operating and that we were still under observation. They used our loved ones to monitor us...like super intrusive monitoring. I met my girlfriend, Delphine...well she was my monitor, then she was my monitor and girlfriend and now she’s just my girlfriend. We had an on and off relationship, we broke up and got back together more times than I can count. In the meantime, we realised that all of the sisters...sorry that’s what we call ourselves...anyway, all us of were predisposed to an as yet undiagnosed autoimmune disease, one I, unfortunately, suffered from. So, I’m like dying, right? And meanwhile, this mega-corporation who made us is herding us up like cattle. Long story short, we found a cure and we brought down the whole operation and Delphine and I were on the right track finally, then at the final hurdle I got taken for ‘my own safety’” Cosima emphasis the words with air speech marks 

 

“I spent three years pretty much in isolation and then four days ago I was set free...in the meantime my whole family was told I was dead...boy did they get a surprise...hmmm I think that’s it...oh no wait, three days ago I found out Delphine was pregnant with my baby. That’s it...that’s everything until now,” Cosima has barely breathed during her outpouring and found herself getting slightly lightheaded.

 

“So tell me, Doctor, where would you like to start? And please don’t say my childhood,” Cosima said feeling her chest tighten a little, she almost felt angry that she was having to say all of this out loud.

 

Doctor Hill stared at Cosima silently, trying to process everything she had just heard. Clearly, this woman needed her help.

 

“Let’s start with your relationship with your girlfriend, how did you two meet?” The Doctor started looking down at her notebook thoughtfully.

 

 

An hour later Cosima walked out of the Doctor’s office feeling completely drained. She didn’t expect to feel better straight away but she also didn’t expect that she would feel quite so numb. Talking about the events that lead her to now in so much detail felt strange after so long of glossing over it all. She had expected she might cry or get angry in the session but she hadn’t. After her initial outburst, she had spoken almost clinically. 

 

The Doctor had told her she may need some alone time after their session and that is exactly how she felt. She was however acutely aware that Delphine was waiting for her in a coffee shop down the street.

 

She walked out into the cool air and started to make her way Delphine. Five minutes later she arrived and saw Delphine through the window. She was leaning back casually in a corner booth looking thoughtfully at the book resting on the open in front of her. One hand toyed with the page she was about to turn and the other sat protectively on her stomach. Cosima felt something move in herself slightly as the scene. Like the start of butterflies deep in the pit of her stomach. She watched her for a moment and became aware of the smile starting to grow on her face. Catching herself she shook her head lightly to bring herself back to reality, took a deep breath and walked through the door.

 

Delphine looked up at the sound of the door opening and her a smile grew on her face as her eyes locked on Cosima’s.  
Cosima reaches the booth and sat down opposite Delphine.

 

“So... how was it?” Delphine asked as she closed her book and looked over and Cosima expectantly but hesitantly.

 

“It was ok, I mean, I don’t feel any different but it wasn’t like the worst,” Cosima replied not really knowing how to sum up her session.

 

“We just kind of talked about...well everything really. We talked about the past, everything that happened but not really about what’s going on right now. She just let me talk and asked questions about details occasionally. She didn’t ask how it made me feel or anything like that which I was kind of afraid of. I mean maybe that’s the point of it, to acknowledge that it all happened. Not to ask why but just know that it did, you know?”

 

Cosima was aware that this was probably the most in-depth conversation she had had with Delphine since she had arrived.

 

Delphine was slightly taken aback. She had been afraid that Cosima to pull away from her completely after her session but she seemed much more herself today. It was more than Delphine could have hoped for this early. She allowed her smile to grow as she reached across the table and took Cosima’s hand gently in her own.

 

“That’s good mon amour, and I am sure the more sessions you attend the clearer it will all be for you. That is how it was for me,”

 

“You went to therapy?” Cosima asked surprised. Delphine had always been unshakable strong and had very little desire to open up to other people.

 

“Oui... I did. It was a very slow process but it helped to make everything clearer for me to deal with. You seem surprised,” Delphine said and cocked one eyebroww slightly.

 

“I mean, you’ve just always had this ‘I have my shit together’ thing going on, that’s all and I know how you don’t like letting people get too close. I’m surprised you managed to open up,”

 

Delphine gave a short burst of laughter.  
“It’s been a tough few years, Cosima. I needed someone to talk to who was outside of all of this. It helped a lot,” she clarified.

 

Cosima looked down at her hand that was gently clasped in Delphine’s and laced their fingers together. She looked at their hands thoughtfully for a second before speaking again,”

 

“You have a scan coming up soon, right? For the baby,”

 

Delphine was caught off guard. This was the first time Cosima had mentioned the baby since the evening she had found out.

 

“Yes, in three days, it’s just the initial check up to make sure everything is ok,” Delphine responded stroking Cosima’s hand gently with her thumb.

 

“Can I come? Is that ok?” Cosima asked, already knowing the answer but feeling the need to ask anyway.

 

“Of course, Cosima. I would really like that,” Delphine answered feeling her face grow into a smile and the familiar sting of tears beginning in the corner of her eyes. 

 

“But,” Delphine spoke again, clearing her throat to push back her emotions. In the meantime, we have Donnie and Arthur to babysit this afternoon so we should get going,” she said as she pulled some money out of her purse and left it on the table. She took Cosima’s hand gently in hers and headed for the door.

 

They picked the twins up from Alison’s and headed back to their own house to give Helena a much-needed break. Cosima was trying to be as hands on a possible with the two hyperactive toddlers and her first challenge had been trying to buckle Donnie into his car seat. He has squealed and grabbed a fist full of Cosima’s dreds in an attempt to wrench himself free. Eventually, with perseverance and a little assistance from Delphine, she managed to fasten him in, much to his annoyance.

 

Cosima found it strangely attractive how good Delphine was with the small children. She had never seen her in quite such a nurturing roll. As they played with plastic farm animal toys on the rug in Delphine’s living room, she caught herself watching her love closely at times. Watching how she made up nonsensical songs and for the two children, who delighted at the French Doctor, clearly used to playing with her in this manner.  
Cosima laid down on her stomach and propped herself up on her elbows as she interacted with Arthur. 

 

“What sound does the cow make?” Cosima asked him holding the small plastic animal towards him.   
“Baaaa,” he shouted excitedly before grabbing the cow in his chubby hand and sticking it’s head in his mouth.

 

“Sure, why not,” Cosima said while laughing as she tried to ply the toy out of his jaws. 

 

Delphine went to make the boys their dinner and left Cosima to keep them occupied for a while. She had been surprised at how quickly and naturally Cosima had taken to interacting with the twins and found herself smiling as she looked around the kitchen door to see Cosima teaching them to high five her.

 

After the boys were fed, they agreed to let them watch a little TV before taking them back to Helena. The twins sat comfortable between the two women for a few minutes before Arthur decided he was sleepy and crawled into Delphine’s lap. Cosima watched as the small child let Delphine cradle him close to her chest, quickly settling into a comfortable sleep.   
She couldn’t help the thought that crossed her mind. She imagined Delphine cradling their own baby like that. The same feeling, she had watching Delphine in the coffee shop was back. She had never felt maternal before but the idea of their child was definitely growing on her.

 

Within 10 minutes both boys were asleep. They decided to take them back to their mother before they really settled in to their slumber. Cosima carefully lifted a sleeping Donnie off the sofa and settled him against her chest, his little arm raised to wrap around her neck and she couldn’t help but smile down at him.

 

They drove the boy’s home and left them with a very grateful Helena, who insisted that the two of them stay for a while, Delphine however politely refused and promised that they would see her in the next few days.

 

They arrived back home and made a quick dinner together, something they had done often before their separation and one of the many small acts that both of them had missed dearly. After they had eaten, they settled together back on the comfortable sofa, the tv was on low volume purely to break the silence. They sat for a while content in each other’s company before Cosima spoke.

 

“I wonder how different ours with be compared to Donnie and Arthur,” Cosima mused, turning her head to see Delphine’s confused expression.

 

“I mean the baby, I wonder how different she will be, personality wise,” she clarified.

 

Realisation dawned on Delphine and her heart almost stopped. She had the feeling over the last few days that Cosima was ignoring the elephant in the room that was their unborn child. The fact that not only was she starting to talk about it but also referred to the baby as ‘she’. She knew Cosima was an exceedingly smart person and particular gifted when it came to biology so it came as no surprise to her that she had deduced the baby must be female given that spermatogonial stem cells from a female donor can only ever produce X chromosomes. Her heart warmed knowing that Cosima had thought enough about their baby to deduce that.   
Delphine realised that she had let the silence linger for too long

 

“I hope she will be like you,” Delphine said softly catching Cosima off guard with her response.

 

“I hope she is curious and cheeky and stubborn just like her mother,” Delphine continued when Cosima didn’t reply.

 

Cosima smiled at Delphine’s words

 

“Oh yeah?” she asked and leaned closer to Delphine 

 

“You might have your hands full with two of us running around,” she continued mischievously closing the gap between them and placing a hand softly on Delphine cheek, pulling her gently towards her.   
Before their lips could meet Delphine held back slightly.  
“That sounds perfect to me,” Delphine whispered against Cosima’s lips before falling into a deep kiss.  
Since Cosima’s arrival back into Delphine’s life the two of them had held back from being this intimate, neither wanting to push the other too far but neither could deny the craving that they had felt since setting eyes on each other again.

 

Before Cosima’s disappearance, the two of them had barely been able to keep their hands off each other. Cosima mentally noted that this feeling and the general adoration she felt for Delphine was the one sure constant she had. She was unsure about a lot of things but not about this.

 

Both of their breaths quickened as their tongues began to explore each other’s mouth’s again and a soft moan escaped from Delphine when Cosima gently bit her bottom lip, holding it between her teeth for two seconds before letting go. A primal feeling rose in Delphine at the sensation and before she could stop herself she had risen to her feet, pulling Cosima up with her.

 

Cosima looked at her curiously.

 

“We need to go to bed...now,” Delphine explained, leading the way as a chuckling Cosima followed after her


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As it’s Valentine’s Day I thought I’d try and get together another chapter for you. I really hope you enjoy!

It was early on Thursday morning, the morning of Delphine's first ultrasound.

Cosima has been awake since 5 am. Unable to sleep partly due to anxiety and partly due to excitement she laid in the dusky darkness and tried to occupy her mind when that didn't work, she turned her head and settled into watching Delphine as she slept soundly. They were both still nude from their lovemaking the night before. Something that had become an increasingly regular occurrence in the last few days.

Delphine was turned towards Cosima with a hand resting under her pillow and the other resting in the space between them. Cosima had noticed in the last few nights that this was often how Delphine slept as if she was reaching for Cosima in her sleep. Sometimes she would be woken when Delphine's hand found its way to her chest or into her dreds like she was just checking she was there.

She watched her sleep, transfixed by the woman beside her. When she checked the clock on the bedside table it read 6 am. Rationalising that watching her sleep for more than an hour would be bordering on creepy, Cosima decided to get up.

Showered with no haste, letting the warm water wash over her body felt therapeutic. After drying herself she threw on a pair of Delphine's sweat pants and camisole. She now had plenty of her own clothes but there was something about wearing Delphine's from time to time that she found comforting. Noticing her love had still not stirred she decided to let her sleep while she made coffee.

Down in the kitchen, she let the percolator do its thing while she checked her phone that had been charging in the living room overnight.

There was a text from Sarah asking if they wanted to have dinner that evening. She quickly typed back a reply confirming. Before making her way back to the kitchen.

She was busy pouring cream into her coffee cup when she felt a warm pair of arms wrap around her waist.

Briefly startled she relaxed when she smelt Delphine's familiar fragrance.

"Good morning, ma Chérie," Delphine said leaning her face into the Cosima's neck to place a languishing kiss.

Cosima smiled her brightest smile as she turned in Delphine's arms to greet her fully. Placing her arms around her neck and leaning up to meet her waiting lips.

"A very good morning to you too," she said against the blonde's lips.

"You couldn't sleep? It is very unlike you to be up and showered this early," Delphine said as her eyebrows began to cast down in worry.

"Hmm, maybe I'm not the real Cosima," she answered the tip of her tongue between her teeth as she smiled cheekily and raised an eyebrow.

Her tactic to break Delphine's worry had worked and a small half amused smile appeared on Delphine's face.

"That would be a most unwelcome surprise," she answered before placing one last light kiss on Cosima's lips and moving to the kettle to begin making herself some tea.

Cosima watched her briefly before returning to her coffee.

They had a relaxed breakfast together as the sun started to rise. Afterward Delphine excused herself to go get showered and ready for their appointment.

When they arrived at the doctor's office Cosima was not thrilled to be back in an environment she had come to detest so much. Just the smell of hospitals now was enough to put her on edge but she did her best to put her fears aside for the sake of Delphine.

After a short wait, they were called through. A woman around their age greeted them.

She was short, even by Cosima's standards but had a kind and welcoming face. Her short sand coloured hair sat almost at her ears in what Cosima assumed could be called a Pixie cut/

"Hi I'm Amanda, you're Delphine, right?" She said as she extended her hand towards the blonde.

Delphine smiled politely and shook her hand.

"Yes, that's right, this is Cosima, my partner," she explained and motioned towards the smaller women who reached her hand out to shake Amanda's

"Amanda is a friend of Scott's," She explained to Cosima

"Nice to meet you both," Amanda smiled at them.

"If you want to hop up on the table there and remove your sweater we can get started,"

Amanda said and motioned towards the bed next to the ultrasound machine.

Delphine removed her sweater and handed it to Cosima before taking her place on the bed. Cosima sat down beside her in what she guessed was the 'husbands chair'

"As I explained to Scott, 8 weeks is a little early for the first scan but I understand this is your first child and your anxious to see if they're really in there, right?" She smiled as she walked over to join them before instructing Delphine to hitch up her t shirt.

"Anything to report so far in terms of discomfort or sickness?" Amanda asked as she pulled out some paper towels and a bottle of jelly which she then started to spread on Delphine's stomach.

"No discomfort, a little bit of nausea the last two mornings but I think that was just nerves," Delphine explained as she watched Amanda go to work.

"Really? You didn't tell me," Cosima said concerned, her attention fully on Delphine.

"I didn't want to worry you. It was nothing really, it was gone after I had some tea," Delphine answered turning her gaze to Cosima and smiling reassuringly.

"Morning sickness is very normal and usually starts around this stage, but as you say it could just have been the excitement for today," Amanda chimed in as she pulled out the scanner

"Shall we?" She asked hovering the plastic device over Delphine's stomach. Delphine simply nodded and turned her attention to the small screen.

They both knew what they were looking for and Cosima and Delphine's eyes were glued to the screen looking for a small spec of white surrounded by black. After no more than 10 seconds they both knew they had found her.

Cosima raised from her seat to get a better look at the screen as Delphine gasped and reached for her hand. Cosima obliged and gave her hand a gentle squeeze as she felt a lump forming in her throat.

"There you are," Amanda said smiling at the black and white image.

"Oh my god," was all Cosima could say. She felt completely dumbfounded. She looked down at Delphine who was smiling as fat tears began to roll down her cheeks. A matching smile appeared on Cosima's own face as she watched Delphine.

"We'll get s quick photo and then we're all done," Amanda said as she froze the screen to take an image before removing the handheld device and handing the paper towels to Delphine to clean herself up.

They scheduled another appointment for 4 weeks' time and Amanda handed them their wallet sized photograph before they left.

The car journey was quiet. Delphine seemed to be in her own world as she drove and all Cosima could do was stare at the small square image she held in her hands.

She was amazed at how tiny it was. Amanda has told them that she was around the size of a kidney bean and that's exactly what she looked like. Cosima laughed to herself briefly. How could something so small make her have so many feelings.

"What's so funny, mon amour?" Delphine asked looking over with a small smile

"It's just been easy to forget you're actually pregnant, you know? Like, you aren't showing yet so I just kind of forget sometimes," Cosima replied looking up from the photograph

"But she's real, she's actually in there," Cosima said gesturing towards Delphine's stomach.

"I know what you mean," Delphine responded as she reached her hand across to rest on Cosima's thigh.

"I don't really feel her yet so sometimes I forget too," she continued turning her attention back to the road

Cosima placed her own hand on top of Delphine's.

"You have to promise me you'll tell me if anything's wrong, babe." Cosima said as she caressed the back of her hand with her thumb.

"Like anything, nausea, pain, emotional stuff. All of it. I need to know. It's not cool that you didn't tell me you felt sick the last two mornings," she paused briefly and looked up at Delphine.

"I get that you're worried about me and you don't want to put too much on me but I'm in this the whole way, we're doing this together now," Cosima finished waiting for Delphine's reply.

Delphine was silent as she stared straight ahead, thinking of her next words carefully.

"I... I don't know why I didn't tell you, Cosima, I should have. I just don't want this to be too much for you," she answers quietly looking down at Cosima briefly.

"You're worried I'm going to run away or something?" Cosima asked

"I'm worried because you didn't ask for any of this. I'm worried that this wasn't part of your plan and I'm worried that you don't want it," Delphine said fearful that her answer was too truthful, too harsh.

Cosima was dumbstruck for the second time that morning.

"Can you pull over?" Cosima asked and Delphine looked at her, her brows knitted together before she nodded silently and pulled off to the side of the road into a nearly empty park lot. She switched of the engine and sighed heavily before turning to Cosima.

Cosima observed her for a second before reaching over and taking hold of Delphine's hand. She gave a small smile to try and reassure the blonde before she went on.

"I might not have been part of the decision to do this but we still made her together. This is going to be our kid, Delphine, and I know that I'm going to love her, so much," she spoke quietly but forcefully hoping that Delphine would believe her.

"I might not know a lot about baby's and yes they scare me a little bit because they're so small and helpless but I'll learn. I'll learn how to hold a baby and not be terrified of dropping it, I'll learn how to change a diaper and how to do 2am feeds," Cosima said and she felt herself truly believing her words too.

"But you can't think for one second that I don't want her, I don't want her to ever feel like I didn't want her," she finished and her voice cracked slightly as she felt her emotions get the better of her.

Delphine watched as tears formed in Cosima's eyes and her heart broke. She reached over without thinking and put her arms around Cosima. Holding her awkwardly due to their position in the car.

"I'm so sorry, Cosima, I didn't mean to make you feel this way," she whispered into Cosima's hair.

"It's ok, babe. I know you didn't but I hate seeing you feeling like this." Cosima responded breaking apart slightly to look at Delphine. She tucked a loose strand of blond hair behind her ear and smiled at her lovingly.

"I'm really happy, you don't need to worry about that. I'm over the fucking moon ok?" She finished with a laugh which caused Delphine to smile through the tears that had begun to swim in her eyes.

Cosima leaned forward and touched their foreheads together as they both closed their eyes at the tender familiar feeling of the action.

Several hours later they arrived at Sarah's house for dinner. They had spent their afternoon laying together on the sofa talking about what the future had in store for them. Delphine had taken the week off work when Cosima had arrived but now they were starting to settle in to a form of normality Cosima encouraged her to go back. She wanted more than anything for things to begin to feel normal and this was the first step.

They talked about what Cosima might do with her time now with Delphine musing that it would be a shame if she didn't finish her PHD, she had been so close to reaching her goal before life had got in the way. Cosima had promised to look into it but the reality was she was worried that with a baby on the way maybe it wasn't the right time, something they agreed to speak about in more depth at a later date.

Sarah opened the front door and greeted them enthusiastically before welcoming them in.

"How are you?" Cosima asked as she stepped through the door.

"I'm good, but honestly who cares? More importantly, how was the scan?" Sarah asked as she took their coats.

"See for yourself," Cosima replied smiling as she took the ultrasound photo our of the breast pocket of her black blouse and showed it to Sarah smiling.

"Say hello to your niece," Cosima said holding the photograph out to Sarah with a beaming smile on her face.

Sarah immediately took the image and stared at it with a huge grin.

"Oh wow," he said in awe looking up to smile at the pair before pulling them both into a tight embrace.

"Let me see," Kira said as she rounded the corner into the entrance hall. Sarah broke away from Delphine and Cosima to hand her daughter the image.

"It's your new little cousin," Her mother spoke as she watched her daughter who looked intently at the picture. She smiled before handing the photograph back to her mother and stepped forward to hug both Cosima and Delphine in turn. She halted before breaking away from Delphine to place her hand on her stomach. All three adults watched her carefully wondering if her gift for sensing her families emotional well being extended to the baby.

After a moment she smiled before dropping her hand and casually walking away, back to the living room.

"What was that, what does that mean?" a confused Cosima asked Sarah and Delphine simply stared at the space where Kira's hand had been.

"Honestly, I have no idea. She doesn't like to talk about it too much anymore but if she's smiling it's good, for sure," Sarah answered and motioned for them to follow her into the living room.

Felix was away working on a project for the rest of the week so it was just the four of them for dinner which Cosima was almost glad of. It had been a long time since she had had a more casual dinner with Sarah without there being a host of other people all vying for each other's attention.

They sat and ate the meal Sarah and Kira had prepared together and talked about day to day life.

Cosima was glad to see that Sarah had settled into domestic life, she was happy that her bond with her daughter was stronger than ever and it gave her hope for her own future.

At around 9 Kira departed to go to bed as she had school in the morning and the three adults stayed a little longer at the table catching up.

When Delphine started to show signs of tiredness an hour later Cosima made their excuses and they departed for their home. It wasn't lost on Cosima that she was starting to refer to the house as 'theirs' and the thought made her feel warm inside. It had been so long since she had had somewhere that she could consider home and she rationale that a big part of the reason this felt different than anymore else was because of the blonde beside her.

They began to make the short drive to the house in silence and Cosima observed Delphine's profile from the passenger seat.

"I love you, you know", She said into the silence. She saw a smile spread on Delphine's face at the words.

"I know…" Delphine answered keeping her eyes on the road

"I love you more though," Delphine said with a wink as she turned her face towards Cosima with a bright smile.

They both reached across at the same time to grasp each other's hands and drove the rest of the way home in a comfortable silence.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 6 months later Cosima and Delphine are forging their own version of domestic bliss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't forget about this fic, unfortunately, life kind of got in the way but I have LOVED reading all of your feedback.  
> I hope you enjoy this new chapter. I may get around to another update in the next two weeks.

Six months later

 

More than half a year after Cosima had re-joined society any doubts she may have had about how she would go back to normality had been all but dispelled.

A week or so after she had arrived back in Canada she had been greeted with a welcome surprise when she has checked her bank account. Alongside her, somewhat lacking savings, there appeared to have been 1.5 million dollars deposited from a mysterious source. She knew deep down that this money had come from Marion and she felt that half a million dollars for every year she has been kept in captivity bordered on insulting. While she herself could not put a monetary value on her isolation and the trauma it has caused her family she had to admit, it did take the worry of how she was going to provide for her looming family out of the equation.

She had decided to continue her studies and complete her Ph.D. at a somewhat part-time rate. Leaving her time to help her sisters with after-school activities for the children as well as taking care of Delphine and their soon to be baby.

Delphine for her part had thrived with pregnancy, her maternal side becoming more and more evident as the months had gone by. Cosima, although apprehensive at first had started to relish the small changes in her girlfriend and how happy this stage of their lives was making her. 

When she had started to show at around the three-month mark Cosima had marvelled at the slight change and how suddenly both of their demeanors had shifted. Delphine was now rarely seen without one hand resting lovingly on her stomach. Cosima, on the other hand, had become staunchly protective of them both to the point where Sarah had started to call her ‘chopper’, insinuating that she was becoming a helicopter mother.

It was a Friday morning and Cosima woke to the pale early spring sunlight peeling in through the curtains. The sunlight wasn’t what had woken her but rather the feather-light kisses that were being placed on her face. Starting with her forehead then her cheekbone before a final one landed on the corner of her mouth.   
Cosima’s eyes closed again as she sighed in contentment. Another more insistent kiss was placed on her mouth. She moved her lips in return sleepily before half opening her eyes.

“I want you,” was all she heard whispered before Delphine’s mouth was on hers again.

Cosima was waking more by the second but not as quickly as Delphine would have wanted.

“Good morning to you too,” Cosima drawled in a husky, sleep laced voice smiling into Delphine’s kiss.

Delphine pulled back slightly to take in the whole of Cosima’s face letting a small sigh escape her lips.

“Please...” Delphine whined leaning forward to kiss the underside of Cosima’s chin.

Cosima would never let it be said that she would disappoint Delphine. It was true that over the course of the last month the French woman’s appetite for desire had kicked up a gear due to her increased hormones but Cosima would be lying if she said that she wasn’t having her fair share of enjoyment from this pregnancy side effect.

Cosima freed her arm from where it pinned under Delphine’s body and ran her hand down Delphine’s side coming to rest on her hip which she noted was already bare.

“Did you already take your panties off?” Cosima asked raising her eyebrows as her hand gently massaged the skin she found there.

“Maybe,” Delphine replied as her attention moved to the smooth skin below Cosima’s ear.

“How incredibly presumptuous of you,” Cosima said as her free hand snaked between their bodies coming to rest between Delphine’s legs, eliciting a small moan from the blonde and a contented sigh from Cosima herself as she felt Delphine’s wetness gathering.

“You do not appear to be complaining,” Delphine countered her mouth finally finding its way back to Cosima’s and kissing her hungrily.

Cosima kissed her back with abandon, Delphine’s fire stoking her own as she raised her other hand to Delphine’s cheek and swept the loose blonde hairs behind her ear, granting her better access to her mouth.  
She ran two fingers slowly along the length of Delphine’s centre causing her to shiver.

“Tell me what you want,” Cosima spoke in between fervent kisses her own breathing quickening.

“You know exactly what I want,” Delphine responded bringing her hand up to cup Cosima’s breast, her thumb running small circles around the bud, revelling in the feeling of it hardening under her touch.

 

“I do, but I want you to tell me,” Cosima couldn’t help but tease the other woman. She knew that Delphine would not last long but drawing this out would give her more pleasure.

 

Delphine moaned before responding.  
“I want you inside of me.” She replied and paused before continuing, her own words arousing her.   
“I want you to fill me and make me whole,” she continued. Her words struck a chord with Cosima and she decided not to string Delphine along any further. If she needed her release now, she was going to give it to her, gladly.

 

After running her fingers, the length of Delphine centre once more she gently moved them to her opening, tested one finger first before adding a second when Delphine’s hips bucked against her own centre. She knew this position would not be comfortable for very long for her partner and soon after had the thought occurred to her Delphine repositioned herself. She moved her legs to either side of Cosima’s waist and sat back in a straddling position carefully moving her body up and down and Cosima moved her fingers in time with her.

Delphine’s threw her head back and groaned and Cosima continued to pump into her, carefully arching her fingers with each inward thrust to hit her favoured spot with ease.

Cosima could feel her own wetness coating her thighs and a tightness in her stomach as she watches Delphine riding her. Ever the selfless lover, Delphine reaches her right hand behind and found Cosima’s own wetness, beginning to confidently rub the small bundle of nerves there.

In less than a minute they were both covered in a thin sheen of sweat, their bodies moving together building to release.

“Don’t stop, s'il te plait, don’t stop,” Delphine said almost breathless.  
Cosima could feel her walls closing around her fingers as her own release reaching its crescendo.

“Never, I promised,” she husked back her free hand going to Delphine’s hip for support.

Delphine peaked first, followed very soon after by her lover. Delphine’s walls contracted and relaxed multiple times around her fingers and Cosima’s own orgasm wracked through her body in a burst sending her legs into brief spasms until Delphine slowed her fingers.

Delphine let out on last satisfied moan and raised herself from Cosima laying her body half on top of the smaller woman allowing her growing bump to rest comfortably against Cosima’s side.

Still, breathless the blonde raised her hand to toy with Cosima’s dreadlocks as she stared at her features affectionately.

“Ma belle,” she said when finally, her breath had returned to her.

Cosima turned her head to meet Delphine’s gaze. Her hand coming up to rest on Delphine’s belly as she leaned over and kisses her swollen lips slowly.

She felt the familiar flutters under her fingers and smiled into the kiss.

“You woke the baby,” Cosima said still marvelling at the feeling of the tiny life growing inside her girlfriend.

“I woke both my baby’s,” Delphine spoke back a pang of guilt nestling in her mind.

“I’m sorry. I was watching you sleep and you looked so beautiful, I couldn’t help myself,” she signed as Cosima slipped her arm around her shoulder, holding her close to her body.

“Ah, was it my drooling or my snoring that did it for you,” Cosima replied with a small chuckle.

“It could have been a bit of both, my little piglet,” Delphine said wresting her face in the crook of Cosima’s neck, a smile playing on her lips.

They stayed nestled together for some time hearing each other’s relaxed breathing. Cosima’s hand stayed glued to Delphine’s belly, feeling all the small movements their baby was making.

“Good morning my little one,” she cooed finally looking down at the bump.

“Your Mumma has been very naughty this morning,” she said raising herself from Delphine and moving down the bed to crouch in front of Delphine’s naval.

Delphine reclined on to her back and giggled looking down at Cosima.

Cosima put her hands at either side of her belly and kissed the centre. She noted the smell of Delphine’s arousal still in the air and closed her eyes at the sensation before continuing.

“But I have a feeling she will make it up to me later,” she said raising her eyes to Delphine with a cheeky grin plastered on her face.

“Gladly, mon amour,” Delphine said her finger coming to rest in Cosima’s dreadlocks.

 

Later that day they met Sarah and Alison in the local shopping mall. They had delayed preparing the nursery until this point, unwillingly to tempt fate until their latest check-up, however, Alison had become insistent since then that they start to look at furniture.

They met in a small cafe, Alison and Delphine immediately discussing where they should look and what colour schemes they had decided on. As they sat Sarah rolled her eyes at Cosima, clearly as out of her depth at this situation as Cosima felt.  
Delphine picked up on this and suggested that Alison and she made a start while the other two Leda’s had a coffee. They all agreed and decided to meet back at the same spot in an hour.

 

Five minutes later Cosima and Sara sat down, coffees in hand.

“So how is looming parenthood going?” Sarah asked, pouring an unnecessary amount of sugar into her cup.

“Oh, you know, exciting, nerve-wracking, exhausting. Good though, I’ve actually totally enjoyed the last couple of months. Delphine seems so natural with it all, she’s putting me at ease,” Cosima replied taking a sip of her coffee. Much needed caffeine after her early morning wake up call.

“No issues with Delphine then? No insane cravings?” Sarah asked taking a sip of her own coffee, smacking her lips together, frowning and adding more sugar.

Cosima leaned over silently and removed the sugar pourer from her grasp and placed it out of reach.

“Dude, it’s like sitting with Helena. And no, no weird cravings, well one craving but not for food,” she said smirking.

“Huh?” Sarah looked up confused  
“Ooh,” she continued realisation dawning on her.  
“She has a Cos craving!” Sarah said laughing raucously and slapped her own thigh.

Cosima laughed bashfully watching Sarah drink her coffee.

“How is it?” She asked deadpan, changing the subject as she watched Sarah observing her coffee.

 

“Mmm, lovely.” A smiling Sarah said goading Cosima.

“Yeah? Taste like diabetes?” Cosima said her amusement starting to crack her features.

“Yep, delicious diabetes,” the once Punk responded as they both laughed.

Their amusement was short lived as an out of breath Alison appeared running back to their table.

“Cosima, come quick it’s Delphine,” Alison said, her voice laced with panic.

Before she could say another word, Cosima was on her feet following Alison at a brisk pace. Sarah jumped up and followed quickly behind them.

“What’s happened?” Cosima asked as Alison lead her to a maternity store no more than 200 yards away.

“I don’t know but I think she might be having contractions,” Alison said waving her hands wildly, clear anxiety etched in her features.

They entered the store and found Delphine sat on one of several padded chairs in the centre of the store. Her face was flushed and clear worry was evident on her face and she sat with one hand on her belly and another holding on the seat next to her for stability.

Her eyes met Cosima’s and she exhaled a small sigh of relief at knowing she was there.

Cosima immediately squatted down next to her, her hands reaching forward to take her own.

“It’s ok, you’re ok,” Cosima said though she didn’t believe her own words.

“Is she coming?” Cosima asked, stroking Delphine’s knuckles with her thumb.

“I don’t know. I felt some twinges and then the whole bump felt solid, it felt strange. I’m worried Cosima,” she said honestly, her eyes searching Cosima’s for comfort.

“It’s Braxton Hicks,” Sarah said from behind Cosima matter of factly.

“Oh well thank goodness Doctor Manning is here,” Alison scoffed sarcastically. Always fall in back to the snippier side of her personality when under stress.

“I’m serious,” Sarah said stepping forward and sitting next to Delphine.

“I had exactly the same thing with Kira, it’s a weird feeling but harmless. Mrs. S. said they’re like practice contractions” she continued. Cosima felt some small relief at Sarah’s words but not completely mollified.

“Still we should head to the hospital just to be safe,” Cosima said not taking her eyes from Delphine’s.

“Can you make it to the car?” Cosima asked her softly. Delphine simply nodded in response.

“I’ll drive,” Sarah offered immediately making Cosima eternally grateful to have her sisters with them. 

 

Cosima stood extending her hands to Delphine and helping her to her feet.

“I’ve got you,” she said as she gently wrapped her arm protectively around Delphine and leading her out of the store.

They made it to the car with minimal issues and settled Delphine on the backseat with Cosima sliding in next to her and taking her hand reassuringly.

Sarah and Alison began quietly arguing in the front of the car about the best route to the hospital as Cosima slipped her phone out of her pocket and made a call to their doctor, hoping that he was at work.

Doctor Stein answered on the second ring, his cheerful voice on the other end of the line putting her at ease. Cosima could see already that he had been their perfect choice as a delivery doctor.

He agreed that is was most likely Braxton Hicks but agreed that Delphine should come in for a check-up.

Cosima hung up the phone and turned her attention back to Delphine.

“Doctor Stein says it probably is Braxton Hicks but he will see you now to make sure everything is ok. It’s going to be fine,” she said leaning forward and kissing the blonde’s temple.

Cosima then placed her hand lovingly on Delphine’s belly and spoke directly to her daughter.

“You have to stay in there a little longer, Jelly Bean,” Cosima spoke softly as Delphine smiled, despite her worry, at Cosima’s affectionate nickname for their baby. Since the first scan and the baby’s unmistakable likeness to the small candy, this had been her go-to name.

“You’re not quite cooked yet,” she continued causing the other three women in the car to smile

“She isn’t a Pizza,” Sarah said from the driver’s seat chortling. The three other women began to laugh as they always did at the conversations that happened between Sarah and Cosima. Delphine was glad to have them both with her.  
The way they used humour as a coping mechanism for stress had begun very soon after Cosima’s arrival, with Sarah constantly trying to break the tension. She was grateful that Cosima had been given this outlet by her sister and had to admit, it was endearing to watch them banter back and forth.

They arrived at the hospital soon after and were greeted in the reception area by Doctor Stein.

“Right this way, let’s check on your little lady,” he said leading the way.

Sarah and Alison immediately made a move to follow him.

“Maybe you two could wait outside?” He said noticing what he assumed were Cosima’s identical siblings.

“This part is just for the moms,” he said smiling easily at the women.

“Oh yes, of course. We’ll be right here ok?” Alison said to Cosima and Delphine.

Cosima briefly thought about telling them to go home if they needed to but she knew that firstly, they would refuse and secondly, she needed them here.

“See you in a bit,” she said back simply with a thankful smile to the two.

An hour later and Cosima and Delphine returned to the reception area. They found Sarah nervously playing with an empty paper cup and Alison looking at Pinterest on her phone.

They saw the two expectant mothers making their way down the hallway and both jumped to their feet meeting them halfway.

“Is everything ok?” Alison asked before the other two could speak.

“Yep. Doctor Manning was correct, Braxton Hicks.” Cosima said finally letting out a sigh of relief.

“See!” Sarah exclaimed, hitting Alison in the bicep playfully with the back of her hand.

Delphine found Alison’s indignant glare amusing. Both hands were placed protectively over her stomach as she began to feel the exhaustion of the afternoon’s events overwhelm her.

“Would you mind taking us home?” She asked the pair in front of them.

“I think I need to rest,” she continued leaning to the side to rest her head on Cosima’s shoulder.

They agreed and within 30 minutes they had arrived back at their front door.

They thanked Alison and Sarah profusely for their support that day which was waved off by the other two. Simply explaining that that’s what they were there for.

Cosima promised to call them later and hugged her sister lovingly before the made their departure.

Turning the key, they entered their home. Cosima flicked on the lights and took Delphine’s jacket from her shoulders, hanging it in the small cupboard by the door.

“Go get comfy on the sofa baby, I’ll make you some tea,” she said as she returned to the blonde and leaned up to kiss her lips briefly.

Delphine nodded but before Cosima could break away to make her way to the kitchen Delphine gently placed a hand on each side of Cosima’s cheeks. Pulling her back to meet her lips for a longer kiss before resting her forehead against the smaller woman’s, closing her eyes briefly at the feeling of having her love close.

“Thank you for taking such good care of us today,” Delphine whispered with her eyes still closed.

Cosima’s own eyes fluttered open at her words.

“It’s my pleasure,” she whispered back. No doubt in her mind that her words were true. She might not have been part of the decision-making process that got them to where they were now but as she stood mesmerized by the perfect planes of Delphine’s face feeling her growing bump pressed against her own stomach, she had no regrets.


End file.
